Huawei Launches Ascend P6, The “Impossible” Smartphone

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has launched the Ascend P6, which it calls the world’s slimmest smartphone. Despite the size, technical specs of the P6 compare well with those of other flagship devices, such as Samsung Galaxy S4, iPhone 5 and HTC One.

“Building on the success of our Ascend P series of fashion smartphones, the Huawei Ascend P6 provides unsurpassed technology and a design that is simply stunning,” said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group.

The new handset will begin shipping in July, with confirmed UK availability from Vodafone, EE, Three, O2, Carphone Warehouse and TalkTalk.

Smartphone on a diet

The Ascend P6 is 6.18 mm thin, and weighs just about 120g. It features a 4.7-inch HD display with 1280×720 resolution, which is a step below its main competitors. However, the rest of the hardware is more than appropriate for a high-end device.

At the heart of P6 is a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, accompanied by 2GB of RAM. The amount of internal memory is disappointing – just 8GB, but it can be expanded by another 32GB through an SD card. The smartphone is dressed in a brushed metal unibody, curved on the bottom.

On the software side, P6 runs Android 4.2.2 with the proprietary Emotion User Interface, which Huawei says is (of course) much better than the stock Android version. Huawei says it collected feedback from 5 million users around the world in order to develop the new version of Emotion UI, and add new software features. It also placed great emphasis on security – ironic for a company repeatedly accused of spying on its customers.

The smartphone also features new ‘MagicTouch’ optimisation so the touchscreen should work through gloves.

Huawei has noted the growing importance of the front smartphone camera, used by millions of teenagers to take self-portraits, or “selfies”. The P6 offers a 5MP camera on the front that features automatic 10-level “face enhancement”, and a more sophisticated 8 MP camera with F2.0 aperture on the back. The sensor is capable of full HD video recording and macro focus at distances as close as 4cm.

Huawei says that its proprietary IMAGESmart software can turn “even the most novice photographer into a professional”, something this author seriously doubts.

As a cherry on top, thanks to features it calls “automated discontinuous reception” and “quick power control”, Huawei reckons the 2000mAh battery will last about a third longer than batteries of similar size.

The Ascend P6 is due to ship to Western Europe next month, and will be available in black, white and pink with matching colour cases.

Huawei has something of a penchant for breaking records. Earlier this year, it unveiled the Ascend P2, a smartphone with the world’s fastest 4G modem. A year before, it claimed Ascend D was the world’s fastest smartphone.

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